What’s the Happiest Country in the World? Not the United States

Who’s the happiest, pluckiest ‘em of all? Not the red, white and blue.

So without taking a peek, NewsFeed is going to put our money on a Scandinavian country. Oh, what do we have here? Denmark is indeed the most “thriving” country in the world, according to a Gallup survey. Sweden, Canada, Australia and Finland also all join to round out the top five on the list.

That’s not to say the U.S. is significantly lagging, though it doesn’t crack the top 10. The land of the free and home of the brave comes in at 12th place, beating out Austria, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom. Fifty-nine percent of American citizens “rate their current lives a 7 or higher and their lives in five years an 8 or higher.” Still, it’s a fairly respectable showing.

The survey rates countries based on how high citizens’ satisfaction levels are. Not completely unexpectedly, the survey saw links between wellbeing and a country’s GDP. Wealthy, more developed nations led the list, while undeveloped and poorer countries came in at the bottom of the pack, like Chad.